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When Anne opened the door and informed Gilbert of the fact that Matthew and Marilla had gone to Carmody for the day to buy Christmas presents as she let him in, she had not expected him to know it already. She had also not expected him to quickly close the door behind him and place his arm around her waist in order to pull her closer to him. She didn’t mind it at all, but a little voice in her head -one that sounded very similar to Rachel Lynde’s- kept whispering to her how this wasn’t proper. Placing her hands on his chest and bending her neck backwards, she quickly took a look at his face; the soft freckles across his nose, the small scar he had under his bottom lip from when he’d fallen from the ladder while picking apples, the eyebrows she so often mocked him about and, lastly, the eyes that usually held a loving gaze so soft that she found herself at a loss of words, but that now shone darkly with a look that she didn’t fully comprehend -could it be lust, she wondered?
‘’What brings you here, fine sir?’’ she jokingly asked, trying to mask the nerves that she always felt whenever she was this close to him.
‘’Mrs Lynde stopped by our house this morning to spend some time with Delly and she mentioned Matthew and Marilla’s trip,’’ he softly said while using one hand to stroke her lips, ‘’and I just though, ‘’what better moment to spend some time alone with my darling Anne than now?’’ So here I am.’’
Anne laughed and softly kissed the finger that was resting on her lips. She did not know what to say -if she had to pick something over which to be mad at Gilbert, it would definitely be the way he managed to render her speechless so often these days.
‘’I understand your desire to wait until the end of the holidays to make the courtship public,’’ he told her, ‘’but I am running out of excuses as to why I have to come to Green Gables so often.’’
‘’You could always tell everyone I have a strong case of longing and I need the best doctor in Avonlea to check on me everyday,’’ she whispered.
‘’Is that how it is?’’ he asked her with his common smirk.
‘’Hm-hm,’’ she said, moving her face closer to his. ‘’I believe the only cure is kissing.’’
He laughed loudly before pulling her even closer and finally placing his lips on her, a soft smile adorning both of their lips as they walked together to the dining room without breaking the kiss.
‘’Why did the Cuthberts think it a good idea to build Green Gables on the other extreme of Avonlea?’’ Josie said, raising her right foot and shaking it so as to get rid on the snow in her boot. It was useless, however, considering how she still had a few metres to walk.
‘’Stop complaining, Josie,’’ Jane told her.
‘’Anne is going to be so excited!’’ Ruby happily exclaimed. ‘’I know she hates spending time alone during Christmas. Oh, Diana, your idea was wonderful! A surprise tea party!’’
Diana laughed and nodded her head, quickly checking the basket she was carrying. She ran a mental list of all the things she had meant to put in it and, finally, scolded herself for thinking about it again; this was the fourth time she worried about forgetting the cookies she had baked, and she was not going to check if she’d taken them again. She knew she had.
‘’It’s rather strange that Anne didn’t make any plans,’’ Tillie said. ‘’I would expect her to make us do something crazy, like she always does.’’
‘’She’s probably just tired,’’ Josie said, ‘’like me.’’
Jane softly pushed her, trying to make her trip, but Josie stood her ground and glared at her.
‘’Very mature, Andrews,’’ she whispered.
Jane pretended not to know what she was talking about and picked up the pace, finally making it to the door that led to the kitchen. Quickly dusting off the snow from the hem of her dress, she raised her fist to knock on the door.
‘’Wait!’’ Diana exclaimed. ‘’It isn’t locked. Let’s surprise Anne completely! I bet she’s in bed reading. We just have to be silent.’’
All of the girls silently agreed and Jane rolled her eyes before proceeding to slowly open the door, letting herself in and being followed by the others. As she turned left to enter the dining room, however, she found that the only thing she could do was stand still as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her eyes, barely registering the grunts of her friends as they pushed against her before their eyes set on the same scenario that had made her stop dead in her tracks.
Gilbert had not really planned for this to happen; sure, he went to Green Gables fully knowing that he would be alone with Anne for the whole day, but he hadn’t thought for a second that he would be making out with her in the dining room as he pressed her body against the table so much that she finally decided to sit on it and pull him close to her by almost wrapping her legs around his waist. While a little part of his mind was working hard not to let his excitement show, the rest of him was simply focused on the way her fingers always knew when to pull his hair and the way her mouth always knew how to drive him crazy. He was also very aware of how much she liked it when he kissed her on a specific spot just below her ear, and how her arms tightened around his neck whenever he groaned slightly.
What he wasn’t aware of, however, were the five girls coming through the door at the exact same moment his lips returned to hers. Anne, however, seemed to be made aware of it when she heard Diana clearing her throat, and she automatically pushed Gilbert away and jumped off the table; she knew she couldn’t fool anyone, and she was sure her lips were bruised and her hair a tangled mess. Gilbert didn’t look much better, but she took pride in the way his hair also looked like a mess because of the way she had been running her hands through it and how his lips seemed as bruised as hers probably were; she also took notice of his cheeks, which had turned a light pink, and she had to stifle a laugh when she remembered how confident and full of himself he had appeared when he first came through the door.
‘’Can somebody explain this?’’ Josie finally asked, breaking the silence.
‘’Gilbert,’’ Anne quickly said.
‘’Anne,’’ Gilbert echoed.
They looked at each other and held a staring contest until Anne gave in, realising that she should probably be the one breaking the news to her friends. She turned to face the table and pretended to make sure everything was in order; it was ridiculous, and she knew it, considering how the only thing on the table was a vase with flowers and she hadn’t even touched it during the romantic display.
‘’I don’t know what’s there to explain,’’ she said, raising her eyebrows as in disbelief. ‘’Gilbert clearly came to Green Gables to keep me company and that’s all.’’
Gilbert snorted with laughter and Anne couldn’t keep a smile from appearing on her lips as she used her hands to straighten an invisible piece of cloth on the table. As if proud with her work, she put her hands on her hips and looked at the table very seriously, nodding before turning her head back to her friends.
The girls stared at her with blank expressions, and Diana seemed to be the only one who could move, so she took the baskets from her friends’s hands and carefully laid them on the table in the kitchen. She then moved to the dining room and took a seat, knowing the conversation would be long.
‘’Are you pregnant?’’ Tillie quietly asked.
‘’No!’’ the couple shouted at the same time.
The silent spell seemed to break after Gilbert and Anne’s outburst, and multiple questions started being asked by the four girls that still stood still.
‘’We’ve been courting for three months!’’ Gilbert finally exclaimed, trying to get everybody to be quiet.
Anne stared at him, mouth agape, and slapped his arm when he finally looked back at her.
‘’They thought you were pregnant!’’ Gilbert hissed, raising his hands trying to defend himself.
Diana quietly laughed and got up, walking back to the kitchen and coming back with the five baskets in her hands, setting them firmly on the table before turning to face the group and pointing to the chairs.
‘’How about we ask everything over a cup of tea?’’ she asked, grabbing the kettle and filling it with water.
The girls reluctantly agreed, moving to sit, but not ignoring the way Gilbert’s hand automatically laid itself on Anne’s lower back to walk her to the table or the way it laid on top of hers as they waited for the water to boil.
Anne and Gilbert had a lot of explaining to do.